THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Panama - page 279

on your own, but you should only undertake the longer routes - including the popular, scenic
Sendero de los Quetzales - with an experienced guide , who should have a first-aid kit and
emergency equipment with them. Although a number of travellers have managed to under-
take these hikes without a guide in fine weather, a few have got seriously lost once bad weath-
er has unexpectedly closed in.
Trails around Finca Lérida
Daily 7am-4.30pm • Guided birdwatching hikes cost $53/person and last about 4hr • Day visitors pay $11/per-
son for use of the trails and are given a map
This eco-lodge offers good-value hikes through the 10km of trails on its estate, with a chance
of seeing quetzals as well as highland hummingbirds such as the white-throated moun-
tain gem, sulphur-winged parakeets, silver-throated tanagers and the impressive black guan.
Much of the trail network actually lies within the Parque Internacional Amistad , which
abuts the Barú national park. You can join a guided hiking tour, or pay for a sketch map and
head off up through the coffee fields and cloud forest on your own.
Sendero Pipa de Agua
$2 • Take a bus bound for Alto Lino or Arco Iris and get them to drop you off at the trailhead (8km from Bo-
quete) at the T-junction, on the way to the start of the quetzal trail
This modest trail follows a water pipeline up a relatively gentle incline up a dead-end valley
to a waterfall and is another favourite of birdwatchers. Beware of a scam by the occasional
unscrupulous taxi driver who, in order to save petrol, leaves hikers here claiming it's the start
of the quetzal trail.
Sendero Il Pianista
Take a bus bound for Alto Lino or Arco Iris that can drop you off at the restaurant Il Pianista , by the start of the
trail; alternatively take a taxi
This is a moderately strenuous hike (3hr there and back) along a well-worn route taken by
Ngäbe coffee pickers, commuting for the annual harvest. Starting by II Pianista restaurant,
the trail takes in fields of cows before taking you upto the continental divide, where you'll be
rewarded by great views on a clear day. Don't attempt it in heavy rain as the trail becomes
extremely muddy.
Sendero de los Quetzales
A far more beautiful, rugged hike than the slog up the brooding volcano it skirts, the Sendero
de los Quetzales offers the additional thrill of a possible glimpse of a male quetzal in full re-
galia (Dec-April). Though formerly easily doable on your own, severe floods and landslides
have made the route difficult to navigate in places, and hiring a guide will substantially en-
hance your chances of spotting a quetzal as well as allowing you to learn more about other
flora and fauna. The 8km trail can be hiked in both directions, though conventional wisdom
has it that it's easier to start from the Cerro Punta side (over 2400m) because of the drop in
altitude between there and the eastern trailhead at Alto Chiquero (over 1800m). A moderately